Comeback man Dhawan rescues Delhi with a ton

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25

A day before the crucial Group A encounter against Hyderabad, Delhi’s stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan said he would go out and express himself as he was mounting a comeback after another injury that threatened to derail his career.

Dhawan did just that and helped Delhi to a respectable position on a day where only 66 overs could be bowled. Delhi were in trouble at 4/2 and then at 49/3 as Mohammad Siraj and Chama Milind got the ball to move.

But Dhawan fought back, first in a 51-run partnership with Jonty Sidhu and then an unbeaten partnership of 57 for the seventh wicket with Kunwar Bidhuri. Delhi were 269/6 at stumps.

It was no mean feat by Dhawan as a succession of experienced campaigners like Dhruv Shorey and Nitish Rana failed to mount a resistance. Hyderabad chose to field first, wanting to use the morning nip to make a dent, and Dhawan had to cut out flashy strokes and drives to survive the tough conditions.

By the early close of play due to bad light, the 34-year-old had made sure that Delhi took control of the match, while also carrying his bat unbeaten on 137.

“On such wickets you often get good balls. It is more like England conditions. So it’s good as scoring runs in these conditions helps boost confidence,” Dhawan said.

He said he had to curb his attacking instincts. “With experience you get a fair bit of idea about which shots to attempt on such wickets. You may have noticed I chose not to play drives or chase wide balls,” he said. “I would hit the same balls when I was 20-21-year-old but now I am more experienced and now one look at a wicket I can make an idea of which shots to attempt. I went for a wide ball and I edged it but thankfully I got a reprieve as it was called no-ball,” he added.

“I feel 269 is a good score so whatever we score from here will be a bonus as at one time reaching 200 was also a big ask,” he said.

Brief Scores: Delhi 269/6 in 66 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 137*; M Hasan 3/61, M Siraj 2/60)